WVTK Local & State News October 13, 2014

Road Salt Prices could cause some budget pains this year for cities and towns across the state. The price change amounts to a 40 percent increase since last November. Prices negotiated by the state increased from about $54 to $76 per ton from November 2013 to October 2014. Officials say the increasing costs could impact how the roads are treated this upcoming season.

Ferrisburgh Selectboard members are close to a deal to purchase 2.2 acres of land behind the town office building and next to Ferrisburgh Central School. It is still up in the air as to what the land would be used for. Residents and selectboard members have discussed several possible uses including just preserve the land for future use. The $40,000 deal would be subject to voter approval on Town Meeting Day.

Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell is planning three public meetings on the proposed rules to implement the new state law requiring the labeling of food produced through genetic engineering. The meetings will be held next week in Burlington, Montpelier and Brattleboro. Sorrell says the rules will provide clarity on the scope and reach of the law and its goal of providing information while minimizing burdens on the regulated community. The meetings are designed to get feedback from producers, retailers and consumers.

Teachers in South Burlington could be on strike starting tomorrow morning. The teachers union responded to the latest school board offer yesterday with a counteroffer of their own. School board officials say that due to open meeting rules, the earliest they could consider the counteroffer is Wednesday evening. That would be too late to meet the Tuesday strike deadline.

Renovations at the St. Ambrose Church in Bristol have been completed. Some of the upgrades include an elevator to the basement, two new bathrooms, an expansion and renovation of the kitchen, new lighting and other improvements to bring the structure in line with modern building codes. The renovations also doubled the space for the food shelf. The food shelf feeds 65 to 70 families per month, mostly from the five-town area. The entire construction was paid through private donations from parishioners and the community and cost about $250,000.